Oregon college safety officer pleads guilty to killing woman

BEND, Ore. (AP) - A man accused of killing a woman during his shift as a campus safety officer at an Oregon community college has pleaded guilty to aggravated murder.

Posted: Jan 22, 2018 11:28 AM

Posted By: Heidi Rene

BEND, Ore. (AP) - A man accused of killing a woman during his shift as a campus safety officer at an Oregon community college has pleaded guilty to aggravated murder.

Edwin Lara entered the plea Monday in the city of Bend. He was set to be sentenced at a hearing expected to end in the afternoon.

Authorities said Lara killed 23-year-old Kaylee Sawyer in Bend in July 2016 and later kidnapped a woman in the state capital of Salem. They drove to California, where he was accused of shooting and wounding a man and carjacking a vehicle with a family inside.

Sawyer's mother, Juli Walden VanCleave, posted on Facebook earlier this month that Lara agreed to a plea deal that would send him to prison for life, avoiding a possible death sentence.

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This story has been corrected to show that Lara's first name is Edwin, not Edward.